2018-01-21

Actionable Eisenhower

Note: This is a small peek into the kind of background
model-building that goes into Be
Well Tuned. I don't currently have resources to invest into
writing, so the description is pretty bare-bones. On the positive
side, I have changed the blog theme to black text on light
background - I hope that makes it more readable.

The Eisenhower matrix is a (somewhat) useful high-level
framing of a certain aspect of productivity, based on classifying
tasks/activities into four types. It's casual application was
entertainingly explored in this Wait
But Why post. I'll minimally quote just the matrix itself:

Q1
urgent and important
(do it now)

Q2
important but not urgent
(decide when to do it)

Q3
urgent but not important
(delegate it away)

Q4
not urgent and not important
(delete it)

Now while I don't deny that this classification is (somewhat)
useful, it's definitely not very actionable. The typical obvious
conclusion from reflecting on it, "I should do more Q2
activities", predictably does not get implemented. Well, that's
because implementing a systematic way to do Q2 activities is
itself a Q2 activity.

However, there's a version of the matrix which is much closer
to being actionable (close enough that I dared to write specific
instructions). Basically, I'm taking the distinctions between
types of activities in the world, and turning them into
distinctions between states of mind:

Q1
alert and anxious
("stressed")

Q2
alert and calm
("meditative")

Q3
unfocused and anxious
("useless")

Q4
unfocused and calm
("relaxed")

The unfocused/alert axis corresponds roughly to PSNS/SNS
activation. The anxious/calm axis corresponds to how much the
brain is under psychological/emotional pressure to solve some
specific problem or task.

The "common sense" understanding of relaxation runs across the
diagram, visiting mostly Q1 ("stressed") and Q4 ("relaxed") as a
result of reacting to the environment. Although people sometimes
end up in Q3 ("useless") by accident, as in e.g. spending a
sleepless night worrying, it is much less likely that they will
accidentally do something Q2.